Encourage your students to think of the different circumstances under which masks might be found in our society and to give examples for each. For instance, we might use masks for:
- disguise (children at Halloween, guests at costume parties)
- protection (hockey goalie and baseball catcher's masks, ski mask, surgeon's mask, gas masks)
- entertainment (theater, carnival, or Mardi Gras)
- concealment (criminals)
Many societies of Africa, North and South America and the South Pacific integrate masks more completely into the fabric of their daily loves and ritual observances. Some examples are:
- fertility rituals ([3] Butterfly Mask)
- spirit or ancestor incarnation and manipulation ([2] Mythic Protector Mask)
- education ([5] Mukeem Mask)
It is widely believed that prehistoric hunters concealed themselves in animal hides in order to be able to approach their prey undetected. Over time, these disguises evolved into elaborate mask and costume ensembles used in village ceremonies and rituals. The animal continues to be a frequent subject and offers a means to recall the importance of certain creatures in the mythology of the people, comments obliquely and often satirically upon the human condition and symbolically glorifies the desirable attributes of rulers and cultural heroes.
The Bamanda Tyi Wara Headdresses (not yet included with this activity) are not face masks; they are actually conceived as sculptures to be worn on the head. Do these animals look exactly as they do in nature? Why or why not? What aspects of the animals are emphasized by the carver?
The Mossi Mask (not yet included with this activity) s extremely abstract, with only a simple oval shape describing the face. Yet we know it is meant to refer, at least in part, to an animal. How? What animal is depicted? Does it relate in any way to the Tyi Wara Headdresses? (Locate the Bamana and Mossi peoples on the map of Africa. Taking into account their proximity to one another, what assumptions can we make about similarities in their material culture and environment?)
How dies the Bwa Butterfly Mask [3] differ from the others in shape? While this too is a highly abstracted form, we immediately associate it with a flying creature. Why?
Can we identify the subject of the Guro Mask (not yet included with this activity) by the trunk and tusk forms? How does the representation of this animal differ from the natural model? What qualities would you associate with it and why would it be an appropriate symbol of aggressive force and power?
The Senufo Mask of a Mythic Protector [2] and the Kuba Mukyeem Mask [5] both combine features of different animals to create powerful images. How do these composites illustrate ideas? What animals provide sources of inspiration for these masks and why are they chosen?
Masks with human features may be created for many different reasons: to honor the living for some exceptional quality or deed; to memorialize the dead and offer an abode for their spirits; to illustrate the myths of the group; and to personify the spirits of the ancestors who return to the world of the living. Masks of human beings are never meant to be exact replicas of the people they portray. It is the idea of the person, expressed via selected physical characteristics, clothing, or mannerisms, which governs the form that the mask will take.
The Igbo and Puna White-Faced Masks (not yet included with this project) both refer to spirits of the dead. How are they similar in the use of color and facial structure? How are they different? What associations do we make with the color white, especially in connection with funerary rituals or the notion of the spirit world?
Compare the Bule N'doma [1] and the Kuba Ngaang a Cyeem Masks [6]. They are both representations of women, but their carvers have approached the depiction of the female face in substantially different ways. How? Why are the hairstyles, facial markings and superstructures important aspects of these objects? How would they help in identifying the subjects or purposes of the work?
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